3-D Movies Here to Stay? We Hope Not

It seems every movie that hits your local theaters these days comes attached with the "3D" tag. In fact half of the top 10 highest grossing movies of the year so far have been presented to you in 3D. Including the top two, Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" and Pixar's third venture into the toy chest "Toy Story 3." All five of the 3-D movies in the top 10 could be called "Family Films"  which makes them safe films to market to a younger audience who will be attracted by the on screen visuals jumping off at them. It also means the studios don't have to worry about not selling their bloated priced 3-D tickets.

Check out whole article after the jump

(The 10 Highest Grossing Films of the year thus far based on worldwide box office, 3-D movies highlighted)

1. Alice in Wonderland...............................$1,024,291,110

2. Toy Story 3...............................................$828,835,416

3. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse..........................$646,245,112

4. Shrek Forever After...................................$641,924,535

5.  Iron Man 2...............................................$621,119,683

6. Clash of the Titans......................................$491,915,646

7. How to Train Your Dragon........................ $482,208,630

8. Inception....................................................$373,225,628

9. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.................. $327,126,590

10.Robin Hood..............................................$310,315,182

Hollywood of course is, and always has been full of copycats. Falling on the heels of the unbelievable success of Jim Cameron's "Avatar" everyone is in the hunt for a big pay day. 3-D tickets on average cost nearly double that a of regular ticket so movies need only sell half the tickets to make the same amount of money. This latest 3-D influx is actually the 2nd or 3rd time that 3-D has invaded our local cinemas, each time it arrived it came because of a lull in box office receipts. This latest 3-D craze coincided with the financial crisis America and most of the world has endured over the past couple years, as a ploy to get people (most importantly families) to spend money they otherwise have been being more careful with.

So will this, like similar 3-D ploys in the past also soon faze out? It would be easy to say yes but the new and advanced technologies (and the money everyone involved is making) makes this one harder to figure. Innovations like "Real 3-D", "IMAX" and advances in CGI makes the visual qualities better than ever. Pretty sure nothing from the 50's looks anything like Avatar. Unlike the red and blue flimsy glasses of the past, patrons are now issued sleeker better fitting black ones. Also for the first time home TV companies are manufacturing 3-D televisions. Major networks like ESPN even have all 3-D channels in the works. So if 3-D fails again, it won't be from lack of trying.

 
So whats the problem? When well done 3-D in small doses could be an enjoyable change of pace from a regular movie, like Avatar proved when it became appointment viewing last year. Cameron spent the time and money to make sure his 3-D was the highest quality. Other recent movies have not done the same. Movies like "Alice in Wonderland" and "Clash of the Titans" had less than stellar 3-D, which not only limits the in the theater experience but can also increase the chances of head aches in people prone to such things. Many movies aren't formatted into 3-D until after filming. Corner cutting like that is noticeable, and obviously isn't added to make the movie better, but simply to increase ticket prices and drum up interest.

What this is resulting in is horrible movies being made simply because they can be made 3-D. The biggest offender of this I've seen thus far is the upcoming "Piranha 3-D" an obvious 3-D exploitation flick. The two biggest fields in which 3-D has invaded are animated films and horror movies. The always unsteady land of horror which already has issues with quality now more than ever has to deal with movies based solely on "jump scares" with chainsaws or what not flying at you in flat out bad movies like "My Bloody Valentine",  "Final Destination"  and we're guessing the soon to be released "SAW 3D" will be no different.

Filmmakers today have a lot of new tools at their disposal and it seems like they become enamored with their new toys like CGI and 3-D technology. The Box Office receipts don't lie, people turn out in droves to see these films. Studios are being more and more selective about which movies they greenlight and right now anything with "3-D" attached to it is gonna have a good shot. With story and acting about the 4th and 5th most important things now in the filmmaking process, I think we are in store for more and more overpriced bad movies. Hopefully the audience eventually realize that just because 3-D is in the title doesn't make it worth their time and hard earned money.

(Trailer for "Piranha 3-D" --The best evidence for why 3-D must be stopped)